Fylde coast youth football round-up: Blackpool and District Youth League and YMCA

A last-gasp winner saw the Blades win 4-3, Matthew Finney leading the way with a hat-trick. Spencer Phillips scored their other goal.

Meanwhile Taylor Joyce also bagged a hat-trick for Town but it wasn’t enough to stop Blades’ march to the final.

In the U16 section, Lytham Juniors Home Heat reached their first Hogan Cup final with a comfortable 4-0 win over Layton.

The outstanding Max Older opened the scoring in the first minute of the game when his long-range shot found its way into the top corner.

Lytham restricted Layton to one chance during the first half, which goalkeeper Harvey Simi pushed over the bar.

Lytham themselves wasted several further opportunities to increasing their lead, but had to the wait until the final minute of the half for Josh Serghi to pounce on a great save from the Layton keeper and double the advantage.

Lytham were again the better of the two sides in the second half, and when Daniel Pilling raced clear of the defence to make it 3-0, the game was all but finished as a contest.

A bizarre couple of minutes midway through the second half saw Lytham miss two penalties before Kai Clarkson Lowe completed the scoring with a great shot from outside the penalty area.

Layton pressed forward in the closing stages of the game and had a couple of opportunities to score themselves, but Lytham stood firm.

Billy Gallagher and James Ludlam were impressive for Lytham in the middle of the pitch.

They will take on Foxhall in the final after they pipped St Annes Greens 3-2.

Foxhall took an early lead in this game but St Annes pressed and were rewarded with a stunning equaliser.

The Greens had much more of the possession and were denied by a stunning save and a clearance off the line in the first half.

In the second half it was much the same as the Greens struggled to create any clear cut chances. Foxhall took advantage with two breaks and goals to lead 3-1.

St Annes pulled a goal back and laid siege to the Foxhall goal but rarely tested the keeper with the Hoops progressing thanks to goals from Aiden Burrows, Danny Fletcher and Vinny Ormerwood.

The U16s also had Hogan Plate quarter-final action and what a game it turned out to be, with Spirit of Youth going through thanks to a 6-4 win against Warton Typhoons.

Robert Flanagan grabbed a hat-trick for Spirit, Tyler Davison a brace and Lewis Buckley also scored. Will Holmes (2), Will Gargett and Liam Gerrity netted for Typhoons.

Poulton edged out Kirkham thanks to goals from Sydney Sullivan, TJ Phillips and Steven Lambert. Josh Marshall replied.

The only game in the U18 division saw a Fleetwood derby as goals from Lucas Bradley (2) and Danny Carr gave Fleetwood Town Rangers a 3-2 win over Fleetwood Town.

In the U13 Alpha Gold division, leaders Foxhall had to work to extend their lead at the top to 11 points as goals from Aiden Wright and Kaiden Shorrocks gave them the 2-1 victory over Thornton Cleveleys Reds, for whom Fraser Hallas replied.

Squires Gate faced YMCA and this game was very well contested in the opening stages before Gate began to assert pressure on the YMCA defence.

The visitors went ahead midway through the first half and as they continued to press and they went on to net three more goals to go into half time with a 4-0 lead.

After the restart though YMCA began to display more determination and pulled a goal back through Oli Hesford.

Gate retained their four-goal lead soon after though when poor marking allowed them to score with a simple header.

To YMCA’s credit though they continued to show plenty of spirit and reduced the score to 5-3 with two fine goals by Nathaniel Gili-Ross, but the visitors comfortably held out to take home the points.

Gate’s scorers were Jack Walker, Kobe Gregory, Danny Fryer, Angel Karadzhinov and Leon Smith.

In the U13 Silver Division it was a fantastic day for Kirkham Reds’ Dominic Turner as he scored a massive eight goals in his team’s 12-2 win over Foxhall Hoops.

Daniel Foster grabbed a hat-trick and Jacob Evans was also on target. Connor Satchell and Daniel Jones replied.

Goals from Jake Wilson (2), Harley Man, Kieran Tobin and James Coulter gave BJFF Vipers a 5-0 win at Lytham Blues.

YMCA teams were in winning form in the Poulton and Disrict Primary League.

Pride of place went to the Under-15s, who defeated Clifton Rangers 3-2 in a top of the table clash.

YMCA opened a four-point lead over second-placed Clifton with this victory at a sunny and warm Seafield Road last Sunday. However, it was the visitors who got off to the better start by taking a lead in the opening minutes from a superbly taken free-kick.

YMCA eventually equalised with a 20-yard strike by Jake Molloy, and as they remained on the front foot Callum Muir put the home side 2-1 up at half-time.

It remained a very even contest after the restart, with both teams creating chances.

But it was YMCA who extended their lead to 3-1, when Mateen Keshan bundled the ball into the net from close range. Rangers responded almost immediately by reducing their deficit to set up a nailbiting final five minutes.

However, YMCA held out for a hard-fought victory which gives them breathing space at the top, though Clifton do have a game in hand.

YMCA Under-12s dominated from the start away to FC Rangers as they won handsomely in Layton on a sunny Saturday morning.

Playing some attractive football, they reached the interval with a 6-0 lead and remained in control after the restart, adding more goals.

Harry Gledhill led the way with four, while Kaiden Pirrie and Thomas Shuttleworth both claimed hat-tricks. A Noah Mawene strike completed the scoring.

YMCA Under-14s clinched a place in the Coulton Cup semi-finals with a 3-0 win over Wyre Juniors Blacks in Preesall.

YMCA had the edge in the first half of this quarter-final and Ethan Goulding gave them a 1-0 lead at the interval. YMCA continued to have the upper hand in the second half and two well-taken goals from Dimitri Jackson sealed their victory

YMCA UNDER-13 Girls 5 AFC DARWEN 3

YMCA maintained their unbeaten record in the North Valley and Burnley Unity League with a hard- fought victory at a sunny Seafield Road.

The match saw the top two sides in the league go head to head, so it was always going to be a tight contest.

YMCA took the lead in the 16th minute, when a throw in from Ellie McNally was flicked on by Isabelle Kells and Annabelle Jackson was on hand to strike home.

The visitors were always a handful and equalised when YMCA were caught out on the break.

Things got worse for YMCA as they went 1-2 down soon afterwards, when a corner caused havoc.

YMCA were not to be outdone, and good play down the right from Jackson results in an equaliser shortly before half-time.

The ball was crossed in and Kells finished smartly to make it 2-2.

Captain McNally led by example as YMCA went into the second half with renewed vigour and she put her side in front with a left-foot finish following a corner.

The game was far from over as a battling Darwen levelled the scores once more at 3-3.

YMCA had a chance to regain the lead from the penalty spot but Kells’ well struck shot was saved excellently

Kells wasn’t to be denied three minutes later, when her shot was deflected past the keeper by a defender to make it 4-3.  

With eight minutes remaining YMCA made the game safe as Kells again found space and completed her hat-trick with another neat finish.

In a fine YMCA team display, Honey Griffith and Georgia Norman were outstanding throughout.